Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I want to share a couple of thoughts with
you this morning. On one occasion, Bhagavan expressed these ideas. The
central theme happens to be “Peace”. Swami gave a few points on peace to a
group of devotees, which I want to share with you. In the
future, we will have many more occasions to talk about and think about
peace. For the time being, let me share a few points from Bhagavan’s
discourses and from Divine conversations that He had with some devotees.

Life is an adventure

Life is an adventure. Life is not an easy
affair. Life is not always going to be a ‘bed of roses’. Our experiences
will naturally tell us that our life is an adventure. Why do I say so?
Unless we are adventurous, we will not be able to accept things in our
life as they happen. Unless we are adventurous, we will not attempt new
undertakings, which will enable us to see new dimensions of life.

Because we don’t want to accept life as
an adventure, or accept life with an adventurous spirit, we feel like
running away from it and we feel life is a burden. Often we feel that life
is a process, which is continually dragging us down because we have not
understood the fact that life is an adventure. Adventure requires thorough
preparation for anything that might happen in the future.

Unless I am prepared to undertake this
trip as an adventure, I will not be able to enjoy the heights of ecstasy.
I will not be able to travel into the beyond. I will not be able to
discover the unknown. All of a sudden we find saints resolving not to talk
to anybody, preferring to spend time in silence. We find spiritual seekers
making a decision to have one hundred percent dietary regulation. We find
spiritual seekers sometimes forsaking all their belongings, leaving
everybody and deciding to go to a place which is quite alien to them,
which is quite new to them.

Mechanical Life is Boring

Why do these things happen? They happen
because these individuals have found that life is an adventure. They want
to touch the frontiers of the unknown. They want to experience a taste of
ecstasy. They want to go beyond. My friends, it is really thrilling and
exciting when we try to go beyond. Sticking to the known makes life dull,
routine and mechanical. There is nothing great in making one’s life
mechanical. There is nothing great about surrounding yourself with only
the familiar, of acquiring everything you want and getting all that you
planned to have.

You know what attaining a position is.
You know what money is. You know what influence is and you know what
luxury is. If you achieve these things, you know there is nothing great
about any of it. Kindly forgive me for making this statement. There is
nothing great about occupying a position that you wanted to attain. You
struggled hard and you achieved what you wanted. That is all.

Experience the unknown

But if you experience that which is
unknown to you, which is beyond your imagination, which is beyond your
comprehension, which is beyond the realm of your thoughts, and keep on
experiencing the new until your last breath, then you are really great.

I have experienced the splendor of God! I have
experienced the radiance of the Divine! I have watched the brilliance of
Swami! I know what Bhagavan is! If you can say that, you are adventurous.
That makes you great. That makes your life rewarding and fulfilling. It is
not anything physical or worldly. It is not trivial tinsel and trash.
There is nothing great about obtaining worldly things. That is the first
point.

MIND IS REPETITIVE

Once we say that our life is an
adventure, we will have peace of mind. Because the mind is programmed,
tuned, and repetitive, it does not want to go beyond. My friends, the mind
is always repetitive. Please take it from me. If you get used to the first
cup of coffee early in the morning and something stands in the way of your
getting it, you cannot even imagine a peaceful day to follow. Because the
mind was tuned to having the first cup of coffee in the early hours, it
thinks it is very, very necessary. The mind has become repetitive. Over
the years, it got used to it. It was tuned to it, and it cannot think of
sacrificing an early hour first cup of hot, hot coffee. It cannot think of
anything else, because mind is repetitive

Mind is mechanical

Mind is mechanical:

“Why are you running?”

“Because I am used to running.”

“Why are you going?”

“Because I got used to going.”

“Why do you sit?”

“I am practiced to sit.” All this has
become a repetition.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to talk
with a young man from Slovenia. I was so happy to talk with him. That
young man mentioned a point, which I want to bring to your attention.

Bhagavan said, “Please grab the earliest
opportunity to share the young man’s thoughts.”

What did the young man tell me?

RECEIVING BHAGAVAN’S Divine Darshan

“Sir, we are not receiving what Bhagavan
wants to give during darshan time. Bhagavan wants to give us
something more, but we are not receiving as much as we should.”

What he said was immediately pungent, not
acceptable. Though it was bitter, it is one hundred percent fact. Why?

That young man himself gave the answer:
“We are not allowing ourselves to receive what Swami decides to give us.
Why? We have put so many obstacles and obsessions in between -- like ego,
attachments and pride. Because of these obstacles, we are not receiving as
much Divine energy from Bhagavan’s Divine darshan as we should.”

For example: Here is a water pipeline.
The pipeline is connected to the water tank above. Yet, water is not
flowing at full speed. Why? Shall I blame the tank?

The tank will say, “You are a fool.
Nothing is wrong with me. I am full of water.”

Shall I blame the pipe? It will say,
“Down to hell with you. Nothing is wrong with me. I am perfect, one
hundred percent steel, you know.”

Shall I blame the water? The water will
laugh at me. “Nothing is wrong with me.”

Then what is actually wrong? Where does
the mistake lie? Why doesn’t water flow continuously through the pipe?

It is because of certain obstacles; it is
because of certain objects. Something like a wooden piece, a pin, a cloth
or piece of cotton must have plugged it, preventing the flow of water.

Therefore, nothing is wrong with the
water - the water of grace. Nothing is wrong with the pipe - the human
life. Nothing is wrong with the tank - the tank of Divinity.

Then why don’t we receive in full? Why
doesn’t the water flow with high speed?

The reason is that the cotton of pride
and the wooden pieces of ego are blocking the flow of water. We have to
remove those mental blocks. Then we can receive the grace because
Bhagavan’s Divine darshan has a Divine vibration, a Divine energy,
which we could receive in full, provided we remove all these mental
blocks. That is what we are supposed to do. That is what we call spiritual
sadhana.

I want to share this idea with as many
people as possible because I am fully convinced of its truth.

Hurry is an obstacle

Once we come out of darshan, we
should be transformed; but it doesn’t appear so. We are in a hurry to run
to the canteen. We are in a hurry to run to the stores. We are in a hurry
for breakfast. Before darshan, we were in a hurry to occupy the
first row. Then we were in a hurry to get in the first line out of the
auditorium. What happened to the time in between? The mind thinks of what
happened before, what happened after and forgets what happened during the
period of stay in the mandap (darshan hall). This hurry is
one of the main obstacles, which blocks the flow of Divine grace.

Secondly, we wonder whether He will look
at us or not, or whether He will pick up our letter or not. I don’t want
Him to see the person whom I hate. I don’t want Him to stop His car in
front of the person whom I do not agree with, particularly my enemy. This
constant thought of ‘mine’ and ‘thine’, friend and foe, is a block and
will not allow the flow of grace.

Tension will make you neglect

Third one, increasing tension: If I miss
Him today, will it happen tomorrow? If I am going to miss tomorrow, can it
happen within a week’s time, before I have to leave this place? My ticket
has already been reserved. My visa will be expiring. Will it happen?

This tension is a mental block. Why?
Because it will make you forget and make you unaware of what is happening
now. I think I am clear.

When you are under tension, you ignore
and you neglect the beautiful thing that is happening at this
moment in time. Swami may look at you, but you may not look at Him,
because you are under tension and heavy stress. Swami may smile and you
may not notice, as you are tense and worked up. We miss beautiful
opportunities because of tension.

So, my friends, let us remove the blocks
of worry, the blocks of tension, the blocks of continuous thought, and the
block of being in a hurry for every silly thing. When these blocks are
removed through the pipes of our life, the grace of water will flow freely
at a high speed from the tank of Divinity. This is one way of attaining
peace.

LIFE IS A CONTRADICTION

The second major point that I want to
draw to your attention is that life is a paradox. Life is a contradiction.
I am not able to accept this because I always have a preference. I always
choose one of two options.

Life is not a multiple-choice examination
paper where you choose the answers you prefer, or where you can fill the
blanks with all that you know. It should be continuously blank. You should
never fill it up. In the examination, you can fill the blanks; but here in
the examination of life, let us remain blank.

The more blank I am, the less biased I
will be, the less prejudiced I will be, and the less expectant I will be.
When I am least expectant, I will be most joyful. When I am full of
expectations, I will be most miserable.

Please observe this: People have been
here for many, many years, but we don’t notice a smile on their face. I
pity them. If you cannot smile here, if you can’t enjoy life here, if you
do not find beauty here, if you have not known the fragrance of life here,
if you have not known the beauty of religion here -- where else can you
know it, where else can you be happy, where else can you smile, where else
can you know joy? Therefore, the years of stay here are meaningless.

One may claim seniority: “You know, I
have been here for twenty years.”

Our answer should be, “I don’t want to be
here for twenty years if I am to be like you.” (Laughter)

Some people say, “You know, I have been
doing service to Swami for the last twenty years.”

Our response should be, “I don’t want to
be here for twenty years serving like you. Your service is full of ego. As
you serve, it is full of possessiveness. In your service, I find
attachment. In your words, I find arrogance. In your words, I find
authoritativeness. I do not want to be authoritative. I do not want to be
egoistic. I do not want to be dictatorial. I do not want to be possessive.
If these features are what happens after being in position for twenty
years, better I don’t stay; better I don’t do service at all.”

Therefore my friends, if we are not happy
here, if we are not blissful here, if we cannot care and share here, I
think the whole opportunity of life is in vain. Then, this golden gift of
living in the presence of Bhagavan is like throwing pearls in front of a
swine that does not know the pearls’ value. We can enjoy this life by
not choosing, by not preferring, by not desiring, by
not expecting. Life is a contradiction and life is a paradox.

Life is total. Life is whole. Life is a
full circle; it is not a half circle. I should learn to see both sides of
the coin. When I learn to see and accept both sides of the coin, I begin
to be spiritual. When I learn to see and accept both sides of the coin, I
can be religious.

Turn Within

Yesterday one boy came to me. “Sir, Swami
is not talking to me. Swami is not looking at me.”

I said, “My boy, you are grown up. You
are a postgraduate student. Please believe me that this is the problem of
everybody, not only you. All twenty thousand people sitting there will say
the same thing. ‘Swami is not looking at me. Swami is not talking to me.
Swami is not stopping the car where I sit.’ The thing to do is drop that
desire, drop that feeling.”

‘Swami, You do not need to stop where I
sit, but I will not stop looking at You. You may not look at me, but I
will continuously look at You. You may not talk to me, but I shall talk to
You within. You cannot close my mouth. No! You Yourself said that You are
in me. I believe that You are in me. No one can prevent me from talking to
You. There is no time restriction and no place where You are not in me. I
can be in constant communion with You. I can have a constant Divine
Romance with You. Let me dance with You. Let me joke with You. Let me have
fun with You. Let me laugh with You wholeheartedly. Let me enjoy the
melody of music with You.’

This is the higher level of spiritual
experience. This is possible when I accept that life is a contradiction,
that life is a paradox. I must not be preferential or choosy. I should be
prepared for both options, because both give equal pleasure and equal
benefits.

‘If You do not talk to me, oh God, I will
try to learn to talk to You from within.’ This is the beginning of turning
inward.

‘If You do not look at me, I will try to
look at You from within.’ This is the second lesson of turning within.

‘If You have not given me any direction
verbally, orally, vocally, externally, I will try to look to Your
direction from within, through the inner voice.’ This is the third lesson
of turning inward.

‘If You talk to me externally, I think
You are encouraging me to turn within. If You look at me, I will hopefully
turn within someday.’ All that happens externally should make us look
within. That is what spirituality is all about.

If I want to be known as a devotee, if I
want everyone to honor me as a VIP, all I have been saying until now is
utter nonsense. Yes! Some people always desire that Swami talks to them
while others are watching because it satisfies their ego. When He talks to
me alone in the interview room or in the Poonachandra, it doesn’t give me
as much pleasure as when He looks at me there in the Sai Kulwant Hall,
preferably during darshan time.

This is all nursery level, beginning or
primary level. We cannot end our life with primary education. We cannot
end our life with this elementary level of spiritual awareness. We cannot
learn about religion by just picking up letters in the alphabet. We should
go through the text of life in full. We should learn to experience. This
is the way to peace. Once I know life is an adventure, I will be peaceful.
Once I know that life is a contradiction, I will be peaceful.

one Cannot be practical in Spirituality

The third point: There are some that say
you must be practical. I don’t know what it means to be practical. There
are people who say, “Mr. Anil Kumar, try to be practical.”

“What do you mean? Shall I be political
so that I can be practical? Shall I be strategic so that I can be
practical? Shall I maneuver, shall I manage, shall I manipulate? Is that
what you mean by being practical?”

My friends, in the field of religion,
being practical is a non-sensical notion. In the field of spirituality,
trying to be practical is a non-sensical idea. Why? That which is
practical is known to you. That which is practical will give the result
you expect. That which is practical will take you to a place you want to
reach. However, religion will take you to a place not known to you. It
will give you an experience, which you never tasted before. It will take
you to levels that you do not know.

How can we be practical? We can be
practical when going to a foreign country by taking the flight, which gets
us there earliest. We can be practical when choosing which food to take in
the canteen. We can be practical with respect to the world. But it is
impossible to be practical in relation to God, because you cannot manage
Him. Impossible!

A few days back, Swami asked one of the
lecturers, ”Be ready to speak.”

The man asked me, “Anil Kumar, when?”

I told him, “He asked you to be ready to
speak; so why do you ask me ‘when’? Ask Him if you want.”
(Laughter)

“Sir, I am afraid to ask Him.”

“Do you think I am courageous enough to
ask? I am more timid than you. Please leave me alone.”

Arathi
was over and this man was ready. He was not asked to speak.

Then he came to me and said, “Probably
this afternoon, sir.”

I said, “Yes, possibly. Why not?”

That afternoon Swami did not come out of
His room at all. He went straight to the Mandir, took Arathi
and left.

“Sir, what is this?” he said.

“This is that.” (Laughter)

You cannot be practical. That man came
wearing a brand new white dress, you know. He was prepared for the
opportunity to speak.

“Don’t worry,“ I told him, “I enjoyed
your dress. It is so bright that it is good for a soap or detergent
advertisement.” He was being practical, yet he only needed to be ready,
that’s all.

Readiness is different from being
practical. Readiness is being receptive. Readiness is being sensitive.
Readiness is being responsive, whereas practical is to be a man of
manipulation, an expert in maneuvering things, a man who can plot, a man
who can be political. Therefore my friends, let us forget being practical
in the field of Swami. All right! Then let us see what will happen.

A simple example: Suppose I lost this
pen. I really want to have it. I search, search and search. I cannot find
it anywhere. So I leave it. Then I drop the thought of searching for this
pen.

During my work, all of a sudden, a
thought comes to me. ‘It is there in the bookshelf -- go there.’

Immediately, I go and find this pen there
on the shelf. The constant search utterly failed. The attempt was foiled,
but when I relaxed, a thought came immediately. Like a flash, it came
where this pen was laying. This thought came not because of being
practical, not because of searching, not because of an attempt, not
because of effort. It just happened!

Spirituality is a happening, not a thing
done. A thing done is different from a thing that happens.

ALLOW THINGS TO HAPPEN

Sunrise is a happening. You don’t do anything to
make sunrise happen. The waves of the sea are a happening. You do not
make, generate or manufacture waves. Similarly, spiritual things happen;
spiritual things are not done.

Things are done in a worldly sense,
whilst things happen in a spiritual sense. We can be really happy
when we allow things to happen of their own accord. The fruit should fall
on the ground of its own accord. When it is fully ripe, when it is full of
sweet juice, the fruit falls on the ground of its own accord.

“No sir, I cannot wait that long; I want
to pluck that fruit.”

By plucking the fruit from the tree, you
cannot get sweet juice. An unripe fruit will be bitter. You will have to
spit it out. An unripe fruit is sour, astringent like the lime. You cannot
eat it. When it is ripe, it is sweet, and I want to have two more pieces
of fruit. Okay! Similarly in spirituality, when we allow things to happen
rather than try to make them happen, things happen of their own accord.

When we are absolutely worldly and
mundane, life actually ends. It becomes tasteless. Life is tasteless
because we find nothing novel, nothing unique, there.

Make your life a Poetry

Yesterday, one professor who has been
working with us for the past thirty years said, “I am not zealous; I am
not enthusiastic; I am not dynamic. Why?”

I said, “My friend, your life has become
prose. Prose is nothing but sentences. It is dull.”

“What shall I do, sir?”

“Make your life like poetry. When your
life is poetry, it will be enjoyable; it will be blissful. But when life
is prose and prosaic, it is dull and tasteless. This is in our hands.
Prose and poetry are composed of the letter and the language. Let our life
not be prosaic, tasteless, dull, inert and passive. Let our life be poetic
because Bhagavan Himself is the Poet of poets. Kavi naam Kavi hi:
God is an excellent poet.

The other day, the school children from
Alike and Mudhanahalli celebrated their Silver Jubilee Celebration in the
Divine Presence of Bhagavan. They staged their cultural program, which was
a thumping success. We found Bhagavan smiling all the time, enjoying the
program. He did not cut it short at any time, though some of us felt it
was time to put a full stop. We had been sitting there from two o’clock
feeling joint problems, knee problems, arthritis and what not. We wanted
to have a break, but Bhagavan was enjoying it throughout. Why?

The whole program was full of His
compositions and full of His songs. “Siva Siva Siva Yenerada Nee
Chintanella Bapi Kona Annaradha. Siva Siva Siva Yenerada Nee Chintanella
Bapi Koni Annaradha.” It was a song composed by Him fifty years ago.

When I start speaking to you about your childhood,
how do you feel? “Ah, so let me tell you some more details.” Don’t you
feel like that? When Bhagavan was reminded of His own song composed by Him
fifty years ago, He was reliving that time. The cassette replayed.
Therefore, He was happy.

Sathya Dharma Shanthi Premala Tho Nee
Nischa Jeevana Yatra Sanginchu. Sathya Dharma Shanthi Premala Tho.
“Lead your life with these human values: Truth, Righteousness, Peace and
Love.” This was a song composed by Bhagavan. He enjoyed hearing the
students singing it. Therefore, there is a thrill in being poetic. If life
is prose, it is disgusting; it is vexing. Religious life is poetic;
spiritual life is poetic. A poetic life makes peace of mind possible.

Spirituality is illogical

We can enjoy spirituality only if we can
accept the illogical. Please bear with me while I make certain
unacceptable statements. There is no logic in a religious experience.

“Swami, I have been here for the last two
months and You have been ignoring me. This other fellow just landed here
yesterday. Immediately, You granted him an interview. Is this justice? I
don’t find any logic behind it. I don’t find any rationale in what You do.
You don’t seem to be scientific. You have forgotten basic arithmetic and
calculation. I have been here for two months. Don’t you know that? There
is a simple law whereby the first person in the queue must be called in
first. I have been here for two months. Why haven’t You called me?” There
is no answer!

“Swami, why do You call him repeatedly?
You have not looked at me even once.” No answer, no logic!

“You gave him a chain, but You only gave
me vibhuthi.(Laughter) Once you swallow vibhuthi, it
is gone, whereas he can show his chain to everybody. (Laughter) I
cannot bring vibhuthi from my abdomen and show it to everybody. No!
Why don’t You give a chain to everybody?” There is no answer; there is no
logic!

“Why do You make him sit in the front and
make me sit behind? Why?” No reason, no logic!

A religious experience is illogical,
irrational. I cannot explain it in terms of rationality, logic or science
because He is the ‘controller’. He is the ‘remote operator’. The remote is
in His Hands. He knows when to press which button.

He presses the button at a time when I am
not there. He does not operate the remote control at all when I am
physically present. He will ask where you have gone at a time when you
just left. So long as you are there, he will talk to everybody except you.
What is the logic in that? There is No logic! What is the scientific law?
There is none! Is there any stipulation or regulation? No! Why? That is
the nature of religious experience!

The religious experience is illogical,
irrational and unscientific. Reason and logic are words applicable to the
mundane world, to human relationships, to human existence, to human
sustenance. That is all! They are not applicable to the life beyond.

I would also like to bring your attention
to another important point. We can be peaceful only if we can understand
this irrationality, this principle of the illogical nature of
spirituality. If we can understand that the thing being given is Swami’s
choice and not necessarily to our liking, it will help us to live in
peace.

We are not able to find peace because we
want to know the reason behind His actions. We want to discover the logic
behind whatever He does. Some people see His car and ask,” Will He go to
the auditorium, to the college, to the hospital, up to the bypass road, to
the hostel or to the canteen?”

I say, “Please watch and see.”

One man is not prepared to hear what I
say.

“No sir, I know.”

I think to myself, ‘When you know, why do
you ask me? Do you do it to let me know that you know?’ I say, “Oh, I see.
Where do you think that He is going?”

“Sir, He is certainly going towards the
college.”

“How do you know?”

“I know police people with their
walkie-talkies. They know; they are in communication with the security
personnel.”

“I see.” I do not want to contradict
him, because experience will teach everybody.

Both of us are watching the car. Instead
of going in the direction of the college, it went towards the canteen.
“Please talk to the policemen,” I said. “They must have gone to the
college while Swami is going to the canteen.” (Laughter)

Why does Swami act like that? Therein
lies the fun; therein lies the beauty. That is the splendour; that is the
glamour; that is the glitter. That is the bliss.

If He acts according to your plan, the
flight on Lufthansa will land on time in Frankfurt airport. What is the
thrill in that? It lands on time, that’s all. If it does not land at all
well, that is a problem. (Laughter) An event that takes place not
as per schedule and not as per timetable has more thrills in it.

Bhagavan is always after giving us a
thrill. Sometimes He even shocks. He will tell a person, “Be ready with
your family. I am going to talk to you tomorrow morning.” The people will
get up at 4.30 A.M. and attend Nagarsankirtan, which they never did
until this day. Then they will go around the Ganesha statue a number of
times, as a thanksgiving, before the event, with a promise to go around
the Gayatri statue in the evening, as a matter of expressing gratitude - a
post-interview process. (Laughter) They go on planning
pre-interview techniques, and post-interview techniques. Everything is
ready.

That morning, He sees everybody except
this family. Why? Not to make them cry. No! The reason is to teach, “Do
not expect. Do not plan. Just leave it. I may call you anytime. Be ever
ready.”

At times, you also find a person running
on the verandah. I ask, “Where are you going?”

“Sir, Swami wants to talk to my family. I
am going in search of my brother who is in the canteen. I am going for my
father who is still sleeping. We expected Swami here at 3.00 o’clock. This
time He came at 2:30. What am I to do? I have to find my father, mother
and brother.”

When you were all here yesterday, He did
not see you. When all of you are scattered, He will make you a running
champion! (Laughter) Adding to this fun, He will come out and say,
“What happened to this fellow? He seems to be mad!” (Laughter) All
of us can enjoy at his expense.

That is Baba! He acts like that
purposefully because it gives us all fun. An interview is a simple
example. If He tells you that He will call you for an interview tomorrow
at 10 o’clock, there is no suspense, no thrill. Therefore, all God’s
actions are indirectly indicating and teaching us that we should not be
expecting, that we should not be planning, that we should not think in
terms of reason and logic.

Expectations, planning, reason and logic
will not help us to be peaceful. To attain peace, we should give up these
ideas. Then we will have mental peace. I am speaking from the spiritual
viewpoint.

BELIEF, FAITH AND TRUST

Once I give up these things, what do I get? Trust
is generated! What do I mean by that? There are three terms that I want to
bring to your attention. One is belief, the second is faith and the third
is trust.

These three seem to be synonyms or
synonymous, but they are different. If they are one and the same, then
three words are not necessary. Saraswathi is the goddess of language, the
goddess of vocabulary. The goddess of language will not have anything that
is redundant or unnecessary. So, what are these three words?

Beliefs are social. Muslims do not want
to see a chameleon. Hindus do not want to face a black cat. Americans are
afraid of the number 13. If something else has come up recently, please
let me know. I will educate myself. (Laughter) We have these types
of beliefs. These beliefs are social, and they change from time to time.
Over generations, we have accepted them.

Second is faith. Faith is individual.
Beliefs are social. I cannot say that all of us have faith. Some fellow
will say, “ Stop, I have no faith.” I cannot generalise that faith is in
everybody. No! Faith is individual. I can say that we believe, but I
cannot say that we have faith. I can say that we believe because beliefs
are social. I cannot say we have faith because faith is individual. So
when faith is individualistic, there are times when we lose faith.

Sometimes you say, “You faithless
fellow.” Faithless fellow is a negative term. Faithful is a positive term.
We may be faithful and we may be faithless. At times, faith may be lost
when things do not seem to work out. Yet, when everything is positive, we
are highly faithful.

We find some people maintaining distance
from others because they think that they are very spiritual and highly
faithful. When we understand the reason is that right now things are
positive, we know to wait a week. He will change. He will come down from
those heights and start mingling with us. It is altogether a different
situation.

Therefore, faithfulness and faithlessness
is something that is cultivated as a result of happenings, as a result of
situations, as a result of events. Happy events made me highly faithful.
Tragic events and instances of failure made me faithless. In other words,
faith may be reversed. At times, faith may be lost. My faithfulness and
faithlessness are dependant on the situation.

The third word is trust. Trust cannot be
lost. Trust cannot be negated. Trust cannot be reversed. Once it happens,
it remains permanently. Trust in God shall never go. Trust in God shall
stay with you for a lifetime. Therefore, we should travel from belief to
faith, from faith to trust. Trust alone confers peace. In order to be
peaceful, we have to cultivate and attain the state of total trust.

This trust is not an intellectual
activity. Can I think of how to be more and more trusting? No! You cannot
have more and more trust by thinking. No! Thinking won’t help to develop
trust. Shall I apply all my reasoning, my intellect? No! Trust will never
be born out of our intellect. Trust will never find a place on a
psychological level. Trust is beyond psychology.

Trust is beyond our intellect, because
trust is a phenomenon. Trust is a happening. Trust is a reflection of
God’s grace. Trust is God’s gift. It is not something you earn. It is not
your achievement. Therefore my friends, we should deserve this trust in
God, which will be permanent, which alone will give us peace. Nothing else
will.

Peace is light

Peace is light. Why do I say that? It is
only in light that we can see each other. It is only in light that we can
see objects. It is only in light that we can move. In darkness, we cannot
move, we cannot recognize, we cannot identify; in fact we cannot do
anything. With light, everything is possible. Without light, nothing is
possible. So peace is light and under this light of peace all are visible,
all are conspicuous.

A simple example: You have a lot of money. If
there is no peace, what good is the money? You have six or eight bedrooms
in your home. People calculate how many bedrooms people have. In how many
bedrooms do you want to sleep? People say this is a two-bedroom or
three-bedroom home. Then I say, “Please occupy all bedrooms.” I am really
fed up with hearing these words. I include hearing these words from the
family members of this humble self here. They all calculate in terms of
the number of bedrooms. “Oh, you have two-bedrooms. We have
three-bedrooms.” Oh, you are the richest man on earth! That’s not the way.

To enjoy comforts in life, to enjoy money
in life, to enjoy position in life, peace is necessary. Without peace,
position is useless. Without peace, money is dangerous. Without peace,
health has no value. You are very healthy, but you have no mental peace.
You have a good height and a wise weight, but there is no peace. All
things will have their value only if they are under the light of peace.
This peace is of the soul.

Peace is a quality of the soul, not of
the body. Peace is the gift of the soul, the quality of the spirit, the
reflection of the consciousness. It is nothing else. Peace is original.
Peace is natural. Peace is inborn.

Why do I say that? Look at a child. A
child, while playing, will never be without peace. A child, while it
sleeps, will never be restless. When you and I go to sleep, we will be
getting up every hour, thinking it is time for darshan! Sometimes,
we come to know that it is 2 o’clock in the morning. ‘Oh I see. I can
sleep some more.’ There is no peace.

Peace is our original quality

We were born with peace, but in the
course of time, peace was lost. Peace is our original quality. Peace is
our birthright. Peace is spontaneous. Peace is natural and it is the
quality of consciousness, of the spirit, of the soul. We get back the
peace, which we unfortunately lost, by acquiring the knowledge of the
Self.

A simple example: Here is a mirror. I
stand before the mirror to give a final touch to my hair and all that. It
is time for darshan, but I do not see my reflection clearly. Shall
I break the mirror or break my head? What should I do now?

I should wipe off all the dust collected
on the mirror. The mirror is good. My face is tolerably good. But, I am
not able to see my reflection because, over the mirror, dust has
accumulated. I have to remove the dust in order to see my reflection
clearly.

Similarly, consciousness has this quality
of original peace. Yet, this peace is covered by the dust of desire, by
the dust of delusion, by the dust of attachment. In a pure mirror, when
this dust is removed, I can see my reflection. This reflection is not new.
This reflection is not newly bought. This reflection is not from anywhere.
It is seen because the dust has been removed.

Similarly, we are not enjoying peace,
which is the quality of consciousness, because the mirror of peace is
covered by the dust of worldliness. The dust of possessiveness covers the
mirror of peace. What we have to do is clean the mirror of peace. Then we
will find the reflection of our consciousness, of our latent Divinity,
which is the embodiment of peace or manifested peace. That is peace!

Sometimes people think that absence of
worry is peace. No! Absence of worry is not peace. Absence of anxiety is
not peace. These are words from Sai Literature. If you want, I will give
you the page number and the line: “Absence of worry is not peace. Absence
of anxiety is not peace.”

Peace is self awareness

Peace is the unfoldment, the blossoming
of your Self. This means Self-awareness. Self-awareness is peace. The
awareness that I am not the body, that I am not the mind, that I am not
the intellect, but that I am the Self -- that is peace! I am the
consciousness; that is peace. It is not simply the absence of anger,
tension or worry. The blossoming of the consciousness is peace. The full
awareness of Self is peace.

DISCRIMINATION, RENUNCIATION AND MEDITATION

This peace is possible if you practice
the following three methods: First, by exercising discrimination, we can
regain our peace. Until now, I have not been exercising my discretion. I
need to discriminate between what is permanent and what is ephemeral. If I
discriminate between what is right and what is wrong, I can have peace.
First, one has to discriminate to regain peace.

The second thing required to regain peace
is renunciation. Renunciation involves detachment. If I do not renunciate,
if I get attached, if I go on thinking of what I really want, if I really
hanker after what I do not have, I can never be peaceful; I can never live
in peace. It is impossible! So, renunciation is the second method to
regain peace.

First is discrimination; second is
renunciation; third is meditation. Meditation will help us to regain our
lost peace. Meditation, discrimination and renunciation are the three
processes we must practice to regain our peace.

Control your senses

At another level, what can we do to
regain peace? Let us pacify our emotions; let us calm down our impulses;
let us control our senses. By controlling our impulses, our senses, our
sentiments, our emotions and our sensual pleasures, we are traveling
towards peace. We are very close to peace by pacifying our emotions. Let
us turn inward towards the Self. Let us go beyond the body and rise above
the mind. Let us go towards the Self. Following the path of inquiry, we
head towards peace.

Next, there is withdrawal of the mind.
Let us try to withdraw our mind. Let us be thoughtless. Let us be
equanimous. That is a state of peace. When we have deep sleep, when there
is no mind, when there is no thought, we are peaceful. We are peace
itself. Then we look so fresh in the morning when we wake up. This
freshness is a result of being in a state of peace.

These are the thoughts that I wanted to
share with you this morning. Bhagavan has expressed these thoughts during
group interviews where the central theme has been ‘peace’.

May Bhagavan help us to live in peace, be
peaceful and realise the peace that is our birthright, with which we are
born. May Bhagavan help us in this endeavour.